


Common Sense

by hostclubmanager17



Series: Common Sense [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Emotions, First Kiss, Lowkey shipping, M/M, New SandersSide, One Big Happy Family, So many emotions, Thomas is confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2018-10-10 05:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10430253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hostclubmanager17/pseuds/hostclubmanager17
Summary: Another video... another argument. What's it going to take for the SandersSides to get along? Perhaps... a little Common Sense?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, over the course of the past five days, I’ve succumbed to what is known as Prinxiety. Also Logicality. I can’t help it, it’s just really cute. But, I had not expected to find inspiration to write a fic until a few days ago. And, in my usual fashion, I found it by putting in my own character. And there's only mild Prinxiety. Sorry.  
> Small note here: These are strictly my own opinions. Everything my character says are my own interpretations of Thomas Sanders' characters, and a bit of how my own anxiety impacts my personal life. I apologize if it's bad...    
> Um, here’s trying? I hope you like it.  
> Disclaimer: Most of these characters belong to Thomas Sanders… and one of them is Thomas Sanders. I just made this even more weird...

 

“What is up, everybody?!” Thomas laughed and leaned back from his camera, taking a deep breath before focusing back in on his topic for the video. He’d cut that pause out later. “So recently, I went out to the theaters with my friends and  _ finally _ saw the new Beauty and the Beast movie! Oh my  _ gosh _ it was amazing! I loved the music and the effects and the acting… just the whole movie was a work of art and it  _ totally _ lived up to my every expectation. But, it did get me thinking about all the little differences between the old animated Disney movies and the newer live-action ones.”

“Did someone say Disney?!”

As if on cue, Thomas’ ‘Prince’ personification popped up in the corner of his living room, arms lifted in his usual pose. Internally, Thomas thanked his foresight of knowing that his different personality aspects would likely show up in this video. It was always awkward when they showed up and there was no camera. Plus, it kinda hurt their feelings.

But that wasn’t the case today, because Thomas had already set up the other four cameras -some borrowed, some purchased- and made sure they were pointing towards the usual places his ‘SandersSides’ appeared.

“Ah, Prin- Roman?”

“That is my name!”

“Right, well, I’m glad that you’ve showed up to provide some input on this topic.”

“Of course, Thomas! I could never let you down!”

Thomas smiled a little, remembering  _ that _ particularly bittersweet conversation, “Yeah, you’re right. Anyways! I wanted to talk about comparing the new Disney live-action movies to their older, animated films. Like the differences in storylines and CGI and-”

“Did someone say CGI?”

“Did someone say stories?!!”

Roman groaned out loud, “Ugh! What are you two doing here? It was bad enough when  _ Anxiety _ showed up during the  _ last _ Disney video-”

“You called?”

“Oh,  _ that’s _ just perfect!”

Thomas bit his lower lip as he watched the others start complaining about each other, the Prince for everyone stepping in on his favorite subject and the others for him outwardly shunning them. It took a while before he could get a word in.

“Okay, enough! Listen, this  _ is _ a video for you all, so  _ play nice. _ ” The Prince huffed and crossed his arms, but stayed silent, thankfully. “Look, I would  _ very much _ like to hear all of your opinions on this. Morality and Prince on the storylines set by Disney, Logic on the more technical side, and Anxiety for any discrepancies-”

“I’ve got one.”

Thomas withdrew his hand, “Why am I not surprised? Okay, Anxiety, what’s your  _ first _ complaint?”

“Only one, actually, so long as we’re not talking about the Beauty and the Beast movie specifically. I actually enjoyed it and all the mistakes from the animated version that they fixed, but…” the personification smirked darkly, looking like he was trying not to give something away, “there  _ is _ the whole matter of… a lack of originality.”

“OH COME ON!”

The other three slowly inched as far away as their camera’s frames would allow as the Prince and Anxiety started shouting at each other. Anxiety continued to insist that he had a valid point with Disney ‘resorting’ to remaking their old movies while the Prince was adamant that the black-clad personality was taking a shot at him from the last video. It didn’t help when Anxiety agreed that it  _ was _ part of the reasoning for his word choice.

Thomas was already having second thoughts about actually using this video, and maybe coming up with something only involving himself instead, when the Prince walked out of the view of his own camera and into Anxiety’s space, almost booping the other’s nose.

“Well, what do you know of originality, anyways, you emo nightmare? You are literally the opposite of creativity and hope and light and everything good in this world! All you do is hold me back! You are not needed here nor are you wanted!”

“Woah! Woah!” Morality quickly ran over and started pulling the Prince away, Thomas and Logic both telling the royal to calm down.

Anxiety surprisingly didn’t look very upset and merely smacked the finger out of the way as the Prince was pulled back to his usual spot, “Oh, so touchy, Prince  _ Charming. _ I think you and Gaston would’ve gotten along very well.”

“HOW DARE YOU!” Morality dug his heels into the carpet, his arms crisscrossed over the other’s chest to keep him in place, “I am a pleasant person to be around! It’s  _ you _ who brings out the worst in me!”

“Then I guess I’m doing my job.”

The Prince was breathing heavily, so Thomas decided he should probably intervene  _ now _ rather than let it spiral up again, “Look, Anxiety, why do you rile Roman up so much? I mean, the occasional quip and teasing is one thing but lately you’ve been at each other’s throats. You target him more than the rest of us, and that’s… kinda saying something from my perspective.”

“I was going to critique you for using the atrocity ‘kinda’, but will lecture you later because you also used ‘perspective’ and this is not the time.” Logic readjusted his glasses and went back to silently observing the scene.  _ Ugh… emotions running wild. _

Anxiety shrugged and leaned against the railing on his left, “I dunno-”

“Do not know.”

“-I’m just sick of him always being on my case about being the bad guy. He targets me because he  _ thinks _ I’m the ‘horrible adversary’ he has to defeat like in your storybooks, Thomas. These fights are his fault, I just respond in kind.”

“Okay…” Morality trailed off as he took a moment to secure his grip on the royal, “So… what you’re saying is that we have to show him you’re  _ not _ the bad guy and you guys will be friends again?” He looked at Thomas, “Let’s do it.”

Thomas blinks, like the thought had physically been thrown in his face, “W-well, yeah. If it stops you guys from fighting all the time. Okay, then, Anxiety?”

“Mm?”

“What do you provide... in a  _ positive _ sense.”

“I don’t try to be nice-”

“We know, but what do you do that’s  _ good _ … even if it’s not your intention?”

“Oh.” The personality hesitates, eyebrows crinkling a little bit as he thought. He didn’t quite know what to say. Sure, he  _ knew _ he helped Thomas most days, even if it didn’t seem like he was, and he did  _ care _ for Thomas’ well being… but how did he explain that? Ugh… of all the videos for Logic to actually shut up.

“I… I can’t-”

“I think I can help with that.”

As one, all the different personalities looked around, eyes growing wide with what they were seeing. Morality even lost his grip on the Prince and fell to the floor, but no one paid him any attention.

Sitting on the couch that Thomas usually had in the background of his personal camera, was another… Thomas. From the start, it was clear that he was another personality, except none of them had ever seen him before. The newcomer was lounging on the far left side of the couch, watching them all expectantly.

The most noticeable thing about him was his hairstyle, but only because it was cut a little shorter than Thomas’ and styled very neatly. Everything else was very bland and solid colored. An emerald green t-shirt with a grey jacket pulled over it. Dark blue jeans. Black sneakers. Not really calling attention to himself. Unlike with the other personalities, if  _ this _ guy walked out the front door and down the street, he wouldn’t get any odd looks or cause any car crashes.

Thomas spoke up first, “Hey. Who are you?”

“I’m your Voice of Reason.” The side stood up and performed a mock bow, “Pleased to meet you at last.”

The others all looked at each other in confusion. None of them had ever heard of this guy before.

Straightening up and fixing his jacket, Reason cleared his throat, “I bet you’re all curious about my sudden appearance and what not, so I’ll quickly explain before getting to the point. In essence, I am Thomas’ Common Sense.”

Thomas raised a hand, mostly because it felt right when speaking to… Reason, “Wait, I thought  _ Logic _ was my common sense?”

“Do you not remember his suggestion for your Valentine’s Day video?”

“... Point taken.”

Logic cleared his throat forcefully, clearly not pleased with the way the conversation was heading, “Excuse me, but why have we never seen you before if you are his ‘Common Sense’? Should’ve you have  _ always _ been around?”

“I have been,” the new side raised an eyebrow, “but you’ve never met me in person for the same reason why you four didn’t start manifesting until a few years ago. Thomas simply never considered me as a personification, like how in his older vines  _ he _ was the one in the Prince and Dad outfits.”

Thomas nodded, remembering the first day Morality appeared in the middle of his living room, gleefully grabbing the bubble wrap from his hands and start popping it, stopping a moment later when Thomas began screaming at the top of his lungs.

“The past aside, Thomas only recently created me, and like with the rest of you it was very subconsciously done. I am, in the loosest of terms, a balancing act. Your physical bodies are his way of working through problems, in the way others write out lists or talk with a parent, and  _ I _ represent the middle ground between his different aspects. It’s my job to sort out compromises between you all, in order for Thomas to make decisions without being forced to wait for you to stop shouting at each other.”

It’s quiet for another moment before Morality clapped his hands together once, “Welp, that’s enough of an explanation for me! Welcome to the family, Reason!”

“Okay,” Thomas held up his hands, taking a short second to absorb all of that information, “Then… let’s get to the original question. Why are you here now?”

“Simple. You asked a very good question, Thomas, which Anxiety is having trouble answering. I simply couldn’t stand by and let Creativity take that as a victory, when in reality it is anything but and he has been quite rude for the entirety of this video.”

He shot a small glare at the Prince, who had the decency to look a little embarrassed. Anxiety risked a small smile.

Thomas clears his throat, “So, are you saying you know how Anxiety helps me?”

“More than that, Thomas.” Reason collapsed back onto the couch, flippantly waving his hand in the air, “I can tell you  _ all _ the ways your different sides impact your life  _ and _ how they compromise or assist each other even when they aren’t aware of it.”

At this, Logic spoke up again, scoffing, “Oh, my. Well, that’s a very bold claim.”

“I agree with the nerd,” Roman smiled, “We are Thomas’  _ basic _ personalities. We can’t  _ get _ more divided than this.”

Anxiety nodded, “I hate to agree with the toddler over there, but there’s no way we’ve been compromising this whole time.” He ignored the way the Prince was pretending to shake him from his spot in the corner.

“ _ Hate _ to disagree with you so soon after we’ve met, Sport, but… we are  _ meant _ to be different from each other.”

“Is that so?”

The smirks vanish.

Reason shrugs from his spot on the couch, “Well, you must be compromising in  _ some _ places, or else Thomas would be shouting and kicking himself whenever he came to the option of a left or right turn.”

“Yeah, let’s not do that.” Thomas was smiling, but that was actually a terrifying thought.

“Let’s start with Anxiety, our little troublemaker.” Reason leaned forward until his elbows touched his knees, “Creativity? You said that he’s not needed by Thomas, correct?”

The brightly-dressed personification shifted in place, but nodded a little. In this particular instance, he didn’t really appreciate being put in the spotlight… this one time.

“Then let’s take a quick trip back to college. Which of you made sure that Thomas always went to class, even if he was tired or it was storming outside?”

Logic regained his smirk, “Well, that’s an obvious answer. Me.”

“No.”

“N… no? But it was important for him to go to class! He needed to learn! Why  _ wouldn’t _ he go?”

“Mmm… yes… but did he or did he not attempt to convince himself that his classmates also wouldn’t face the rainstorm or that missing  _ one _ morning class wouldn’t be the end of the world?”

Thomas chuckles, “Guilty.”

“Then what made you go if it wasn’t your desire to learn?”

Anxiety blinks before hesitantly pointing at his chest, “That… was me. I had him thinking about all the things he would miss and how his grades would suffer and... he got up and went to class.”

Reason nodded, “Exactly.”

“Woah, woah, that’s only one example-” Prince is cut off with another glare. He wasn’t really liking this new SandersSide… he was like another Dad, but not as soft or fun or dorky.

“Very well. What of all the times that Anxiety questioned the content of Thomas’ videos, leading to him double and triple checking his work and finding mistakes that he fixed before publishing? Thomas, you’ve developed quite an eye for discrepancies from all of your editing, wouldn’t you say?”

Anxiety is sheepishly fiddling with his jacket sleeves as Reason continued, “And what of all of your alarms that you have on your phone? And how you’ve set the clock in your car forward by ten minutes, for fear that you’ll show up late? How often are you  _ not _ on time?”

Thomas smiles, “Very rarely… I just assumed that was Morality helping me be an adult by making sure I was on time.” His statement was greeted with a hearty laugh.

“Well, son-”

“Not your son.”

“-I might know the importance of being on time, but  _ I _ would keep pressing the snooze button if it were me, and probably oversleep. Anxiety is the one who gets you up before you’re late.”

Reason spread his hands, “With Anxiety providing fears about failure, he’s pushed Thomas to be better in quite a few things.”

“Wow… I never thought about it like that…”

Anxiety shifted a little, attempting to hide a smile, “Still wasn’t trying to help…”

“But you  _ did _ anyways, so  _ thank you _ , Anxiety. I owe you a lot. And I’m sorry for always treating you like the bad guy.”

The dark personality looked shocked, but before he could say anything, there was the sound of yet another person clearing his throat. It was Morality. And he was… glaring at Princey?

“Roman…”

“What?” The royal was looking at the ground, a hand fiddling with the bottom of his shirt in a very uncharacteristic move.

“Tell Anxiety you’re sorry…  _ now. _ ”

_ Wow. He’s really stepping up his Dad game, isn’t he? _

The Prince sighs, but straightens up and turns to his counterpart. For a moment, the two just stare at each other before he looked to the side and muttered, “I’m sorry for my unkind words. You  _ do _ help Thomas.”

“Now do me! Do me!” Morality interrupted yet again, clapping his hands and staring at Reason before Anxiety could say anything to the royal. At least Princey looked pleased with himself.

“If you insist.” Reason chuckled and shifted in his seat again, “Morality, you help out Creativity more often than you think. You connect his new ideas to real world instances that can help Thomas’ viewers relate, because you’re always thinking of others and how they might view the content.” He tilts his head, “And Logic actually helps out in that stance as well.”

“What? Bu-t-that deals with emotions! Not my division!”

“Nice Sherlock reference, but don’t you make sure that Creativity’s ideas make sense in real world settings?” Logic raised a finger, hesitated, then put it down. “ _ And _ your wide range of knowledge helps create new ideas from what you’ve seen or read or heard about. New content has to come from inspiration.”

“Okay, enough!” Roman had his hands up by his head, “Could you  _ please _ stop telling people that  _ I’m _ the one who always needs help?  _ I’m _ the one who helps the  _ others! _ ”

Reason nodded, “Yeah, you do.”

“I do? I mean,  _ I do! _ ” He hesitates, “Who do I help?”

“Anxiety.”

Morality does a spit take, water dribbling down his chin and onto the carpet. Thomas jumps before running over to clap the other on the back. He'd have to cut this part out, too. If his viewers saw  _ two  _ Thomas' on screen at the same time... oh boy.

Logic pulls up a dry washcloth out of *nowhere* and hands it over, “Why were you drinking water?”

“Oh, that low voice I used to tell Roman to apologize  _ really _ irritates my vocal chords! I should stop doing it but I haven’t found any other way to make him listen!”

“Back to the matter at hand, if you  _ please!  _ I would  _ never _ assist Anxiety with anything that he does! We… we’re polar opposites!  _ I  _ represent Thomas’ Hopes and Dreams and while I  _ will _ admit that Anxiety  _ does _ help sometimes how could  _ I _ contribute to the nightmares and misgivings he creates?”

“Well… are Anxiety’s ideas unfounded?”

“Mostly!”

“He made them up?”

“Or greatly distorted them!”

“So they were created? Using creativity?”

“Yes! Oh...”

Anxiety smirks and, unable to help himself, “Aww, thanks Princy.”

“Shut up, you MCR reject.”

“Wow… you two are so cute.”

Before another argument could break out, Thomas turns back to Reason, “So, they all assist each other in ways they didn’t know about... which is cool. But didn’t you say something about compromises?”

“I did.” Reason cast a glance at Anxiety and Creativity, who were still glaring at each other, before deciding to leave them alone for a moment, “Let’s start with Morality and Creativity. You both inspire Thomas to try new things, from food to experiences to ice cream flavors, because together you create his Spirit of Adventure.”

Morality laughs in amazement before turning around to high five the Prince, who very much appreciated the 'Up' reference.

“Next, Logic and Morality.’

At that, Logan raised an eyebrow, his mouth lifting up in a half-smile, “Oh, this shall be entertaining. What do you suppose  _ we _ create? Besides Thomas’ indecision, of course?”

“Curiosity.”

He blinked behind his square glasses, “Excuse me?”

“Well, Creativity would prefer to make up his own world and Anxiety worries over what he’ll find out there, but Logic… you love knowledge and learning new things. But you need Thomas’ desire to explore the world to do so. That part comes from Morality.”

The two glasses-wearing personalities stare at each other for a few seconds. Morality still looked very pleased, but Logic was more… confused.

“I never knew…”

“Yeah. Who could’ve guessed you two would work well together? Total mystery.” Thomas raised an eyebrow at his newest personality. Reason shrugged, “Sarcasm is just deeply imbedded in your being. We all contribute to it.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Yeah… that’s literally my name. Common Sense.”

Morality laughs and finger guns Reason. One more person to make Dad jokes with!

Logic clears his throat, frowning a bit, “Anything else?”

“Oh, yes, actually. Creativity… and  _ Anxiety. _ ”

“Again?”

“Again?!!”

The newest member of their family raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, “I don’t make the rules.”

“Oh, come  _ on… _ How can we  _ possibly- _ ”

“I’ve already proved you wrong twice today, Creativity. If you stay silent, I won’t have to do it for a third time.”

The Prince huffs, but shut up. Anxiety made a mental note to ask Reason how he  _ did that _ sometime in the near future.

“Thank you. Anyways, as I was saying, Creativity and Anxiety cover most of the middle ground that’s left between Morality and Logic. Creativity uses Thomas’ emotions  _ and _ the things that he’s experienced and learned to combine into ideas and expectations. On the other side of the spectrum is Anxiety, who also uses one of Thomas’ most basic emotions: Fear. Using fear and the knowledge of bad people and experiences, he can also make ideas and expectations that can give Thomas pause or create deeper thoughts and more intricate plans.”

For a moment, most everyone is quiet.

“I… always imagined Anxiety as the bad guy…”

“Yeah, we kinda guessed that, big guy.”

“That’s  _ literally _ what I said at the beginning of this video.”

Reason leaned back, “Too much of  _ any _ of you would sent poor Thomas down the path to a miserable life, but he’d also suffer if even one of you went missing.”

“So what of you? What do you give Thomas?”

At Logic’s question, the newcomer merely shook his head in amusement, “I’m just a balancing act between you all. I keep the peace.”

Thomas smiled softly, “Any last wisdom before I start closing up this video?”

“Yes. Logic, you help Thomas keep a level head about things. Often times, the others are too emotionally involved in a problem to look at it objectively and actually solve it. You keep him from panicking.” The personality wiggles his shoulders a bit, clearly pleased but was trying not to be.

Thomas drew his eyebrows together, confused by that reaction. Why was Logic attempting to brush off the praise? Did he have a problem with Reason? Perhaps he thought the new personality was taking his job?

“Creativity, you’re the reason Thomas always sees the best in the people he meets, because to you, everyone in a Prince or Princess.”

Now, even with the sharp way Reason had been addressing him throughout the video, the Prince still managed to look smug, straightening out his red sash and pushing back his shoulders. Anxiety scoffed internally. If Princy was a bird, he’d literally be preening right now.

Sitting back further onto the stairs behind him, the darkly-dressed personality attempted to not get too comfortable. Reason might’ve sided with him for the majority of the video, but this was always the time that he’d be brushed into to the background. And besides, it wasn’t like Reason could come up with any more nice-ish things to say, anyways.

“Anxiety, you provide Thomas’ ability to avoid uncomfortable situations.”

_ Oh. _

Despite himself, Anxiety found himself smiling softly.

On the other side of the cameras, Morality lifted his hand like he was in class, the same way Thomas had earlier, “Um, Reason? What about me?” To Anxiety’s left, he heard a faint ‘hmph’. He glanced at Logic out of the corner of his eyes. The scholarly personification looked a little upset. Anxiety rolled his eyes, but his miniscule smile remained in place.

“Morality, you provide Thomas passion for the things he loves. You drive him towards the dreams that Creativity makes.”

To everyone’s surprise, at Reason’s compliments, Dad actually blushed and covered his cheeks, giggling. Anxiety risked another glance to his left, and Logic had gone still… but it didn’t look like the line had been crossed just yet…

Reason shook his head with a small smile on his face, “Morality, you are adorable.” Dad squeaked and started giggling harder, his blush spreading across his nose.

“Alright! We get it! Stop flirting already! We're in the middle of a video!” The room was thrust into silence following Logic’s sudden shout. He immediately felt embarrassment for his uncharacteristically emotional outburst, but it only got worse when Morality spoke his real name in soft concern.

The one one who didn’t look surprised or concerned was Reason, who was still smiling, “I do believe that our logical friend is experiencing jealousy for the first time.”

“Jealousy? Really?” Morality was smiling again, but also looked confused, “I get that you’re ‘Common Sense’, but who could he be jealous of…” he trailed off, smile vanishing as he blinked a few times, like coming out of a good dream. He looked towards Logic just as his vanished.

Morality looked around at the others, who all, other than Thomas, were giving him the ‘you’re-just- _ now _ -catching-on?’ look.

“ _ Oh my gosh… _ Logan!” He fades out.

Roman nodded his head once, “Well, I suppose we really should thank you for that.”

“No problem.”

“I  _ guess _ we can tolerate you.”

Reason shrugged, ignoring Thomas’ confused expression for the moment, “Eh… you probably won’t be seeing much of me. I can’t solve all your problems like a fairy godmother with a magic wand.”

“ _ Awww… _ why not?”

“Besides, everything I’ve said today was just a cumulation of realizations Thomas has had regarding your personal characters. And his fan’s theories. You’ll still have to work out some things yourselves.”

Anxiety smirked again, but this one is more genuine than usual, “A friend who sticks up for me who I don’t see all the time. Suppose that’s alright.”

“Oh, it’s alright that you won’t see your savior? I thought you two were getting pretty buddy-buddy there, April Ludgate.”

The three remaining ‘Thomas’’ in the room looked at the Prince in surprise. Anxiety was a little taken aback, yet pleased all the same, “My, my, my, Princy. Now  _ you’re _ the one who sounds jealous.”

“I am not jealous! Jealous of who? You?  _ Him? _ ”

“You said it, not me, Andy Dwyer.” And with that, Anxiety sank down.

For a moment, Roman glared at the newly empty staircase before nodded at Thomas and sinking down as well.

Thomas glanced around his almost empty living room, “Well, I have  _ no _ idea what just happened.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. They’ve all got some things to work out with each other. They’ll come around, but hopefully there will be a bit more cooperation between them all.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” The Youtuber smiled at Reason, “Their shouting matches were starting to give me serious headaches.”

“And yet you feel lonely when they leave.”

“Oh… yeah. Suppose.” Thomas rubbed his hands together. In the back of his mind, he felt something akin to an increased heartbeat… but in his head? If that made sense? He had a feeling that Morality just found Logic. “So, I meant to ask at the beginning of the video, but what exactly do you want me to call you? I mean, I’ve been calling you Reason inside my head, but you also said your name was Common Sense?”

“Hm… I suppose you can call me Reason. But, in more personal instances, you may use my real name, Chris.”

“Chris?  _ Oh! _ Like how it can be both a nickname and an actual name?"

"Yes."

"And also a boy’s name or a girl’s name?”

“Yes. Great balance, don’t you think?”

“Yeah… well it was nice meeting you.”

“Likewise.” Reason sinks down.  _ One day, _ Thomas promised to himself,  _ One day I’ll ask them where they go when they sink down like that. _

He looks back at his camera, taking in a deep breath and letting it out, “Well, this video definitely took a strange turn. I guess I’ll do the differences between animated Disney and live-action Disney another time. Um, I guess the whole point of this video was… find your balance. For those who are also creative and smart and caring and worried and anything else that you identify as, don’t let one thing define your whole life. Each different aspect blends itself to make  _ you _ , and you shouldn’t hide any one of them, even if you don’t think it helps all the time. There are some bad aspects and some good ones, too. Just don’t repress yourself. Until next time, take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Peace out!"

 


	2. Matters of the Mind and Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morality finds Logic holed up in his bedroom...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a few requests for a second chapter about what happened with Logic and Morality, and while I hadn’t planned on writing this, I got an idea and… welp, you see the result. I'm actually sort of pleased with it, and I hope you like it, too!  
> Disclaimer: Still don’t own the SandersSides.

On most days, Logic’s room looked like a modern day apartment.

Walking inside, one would usually find themselves in a large open space with polished wooden floors and full-wall windows just opposite the door. To the left were two huge bookshelves filled with everything from novels to encyclopedias to textbooks that covered most of the wall, save for a tiny space in the middle where a ladder lead up to the loft where Logic kept his bed. On the right side of the room would either be a desk with whatever new paper Logic was preparing for Thomas or a pristine white couch. There was another door on that side that lead to his personal bathroom, but other than that, the room was very Spartan.

Just… not at the moment.

Right now, a good half of the bookshelves were empty. Said missing books were scattered all over the room, some haphazardly tossed to the floor and bent in ways that would usually make Logic cringe if not physically gag, but today he couldn’t even focus on anything other than going over the last couple minutes in his head over and over again. Perhaps that’s a way he helped out Anxiety… over analyzing…

_Augh! This is not the time! Damn these emotions!_

Logic nearly stumbled into his couch, which was odd considering he was pacing the middle of the room, and took a moment to recall exactly _why_ it was there and not pressed against the wall like it should be. But then he remembered. He had pulled it away from the wall when he’d tossed a book behind it only to frantically attempt to retrieve it.

Finally able to focus on something other than the video that had just been created, Logic took a deep breath and started fixing the room, starting with the couch.

As he pushed it back towards the wall, his mind continued to spin around, attempting to make a plan. It was times like these that Logic really wished he could be more like his favorite character, Data. Oh yes, he’d been extremely pleased to have been asked _that_ particular question in the Q &A video. After all, it made sense why he’d prefer Data, who didn’t have to deal with human emotions, which made him superior to Spock, who did.

 _Superior to_ me.

Groaning in frustration, Logic went back to pacing, trying to not step on the books littering the floor. The raging thunderstorm outside the windows wasn’t helping either, but it wasn’t like he could help it. Because the stupid weather was tied to his _damn emotions!_

The rain changed to hail.

_Bang!_

Logic’s bedroom door shook violently in its frame as something heavy slammed into it from out in the hallway. The doorknob rattled for a few seconds before the sound of a fist hitting the door echoed through the room, followed by a painfully familiar voice.

“Logan? Logan! Oh my go- _Logan!_ Open the door! Please open up!”

As he listened to Morality pounding on the door, Logic knew that behind him the hail had stopped, turning instead to freezing rain, matching up with the flash of panic clenching around his lungs. Of course, he immediately began resenting the way his body was filling up with dread, and started his favorite pastime.

Telling himself all the reasons that emotions, particularly his own, were illogical.

His feet took measured steps towards the door as he began. _I can easily deny anything that might’ve been implied if he seems upset by it. I could suggest that what I’m feeling isn’t jealousy, but protectiveness… after all, we’ve only just met Reason-_

He hesitated right in front of the door, another short flash of jealousy flaring up in his stomach before he unhappily ran his fingers through his hair.

_Oh, why couldn’t Reason have developed an interest in Anxiety instead? At least Princey knows how to handle emotions…_

Letting out a deep breath, he gripped the doorknob and twisted it, causing the lock to slide out of place. Almost immediately the door was pushed open, Logic just barely stepping aside to avoid being crushed by Morality’s falling body. The other persona fell to the floor, catching himself mere milliseconds before he face-planted the wood. Another split second later and the hardwood floor was replaced with soft, light grey carpeting, but Thomas’ ‘Heart’ embodiment didn’t seem to notice.

‘Dad’ scrambled to his feet, glasses askew and cardigan knoted so loosely over his shoulders it was in high risk of falling off altogether, but he didn’t seem to notice either of these things. Logic felt a strange desire to fix the other’s glasses for him.

“Did you run into my door?” he asked instead.

Morality jolted before reaching up to fiddle with his cardigan, fingers tightening the knot firmly around his neck, “You… don’t usually lock it.”

Logic nodded mutely and shut the door, guaranteeing them privacy even when the other two personas also faded back into Thomas’ mind. Turning back to face his… friend… he noted out of the corner of his eyes how it was now snowing heavily on the other side of the windows.

For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, wondering who was going to start the conversation.

“So… ah…” Morality was twisting the sleeves of his cardigan tightly in his hands, freely expressing how anxious he was. Logic’s stomach spiraled downwards.

The other cleared his throat before trying again, “I, um, I bet you’re wondering why I came here and I-I want to ask you a question but I’m not really sure if I want to know the answer and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable because I know the things I’m about to ask about you’re not always comfortable with it’s just really confusing for me but it’s also exciting but I know you don’t do well with emotions so you might not even _know_ the answer to my question…”

Logic watched as the other persona continued to babble and occasionally stutter, and despite everything he couldn’t help but smile a little.

“What?”

The ‘intelligent’ SandersSide quickly refocused when he realized the word had been directed at him. Morality had stopped rambling and was now rocking on his feet, waiting for Logic to respond.

Being the eloquent and well-spoken persona he was, Logic did the appropriate thing and answered, “What?”

Morality’s lips made a small smile before he clarified, “You were smiling. At what?”

“Oh… I simply found your chattering very endearing… for some reason. Usually I’d find such nervous reactions annoying but yours appears to have the opposite effect on me. I’ve been attempting to find a diagnostic for the reason for some time now.”

Once again, the room went silent, but this time Morality looked more stunned than nervous. His mouth was hanging open a bit and his eyes had widened drastically behind his crooked frames. And Logic had no clue why. He hadn’t… _officially_ admitted that he had a crush on the other. He merely answered Morality’s question as to why he’d been smiling at him. Right?

Finally, Morality swallowed, “Logan… do you like me?”

Oh, thank goodness. A rather easy question.

“Why, of course I do, Patton. What made you think otherwise?” Morality’s real name rolled of Logic’s tongue with ease, despite how he didn’t use it often, “I know that I say you frustrate me on a regular occurrence, and your jokes during serious situations are sometimes infuriating, but I do appreciate your company a great deal and-”

“Not what I meant, Logan… but thank you.” Morality rocked once more onto his heels before stopping, “Do you _like_ like me. As in, do you have a… do you… feel… _romantic_ emotions towards... _me?_ ”

Logic blinked, and for a moment he considered denying it. Clearly, Morality was very uncomfortable right now, so much so that he could barely ask his question. And if his discomfort was Logic’s fault for having a romantic attraction, then shouldn’t he at least consider Morality’s feelings before his own? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do for the people you care about? Logic was _positive_ that he and Morality had argued over that same exact subject not too long ago...

But just as he came to a decision and met Morality’s stare head on... he noticed that Morality’s glasses were still crooked.

Logic’s lips curled up in the corners and he chuckled.

Morality blushed but didn’t move away when Logic reached for his face, fingers gently adjusting the black frames back onto the bridge of his nose. He started pulled his hand back, then changed his mind and instead moved to cradle the right side of Morality’s face. If possible, the other persona’s blush darkened.

“Perhaps the truth would be the best decision here… I doubt you’d ever forgive me if I lied to you.” Morality was quiet, so Logic swallowed and continued, “It isn’t logical… but I’m afraid I must answer your question with a ‘yes’. I do feel… ‘ _romantic emotions_ ’ towards you, Patton.”

Morality’s body stiffened before his eyes, to the point Logic wasn’t even sure the other was breathing. He quickly withdrew his hand, blood running cold with instant regret.

“I’m sorry, Patton. I understand if my confession has made our friendship too uncomfortable for you to continue… and that you must think I’m a coward for only admitting to my emotions simply because of your obvious attraction to Reason-” He was quickly interrupted by something soft and warm pressing against his mouth, keeping his lips sealed together with the combination of force and surprise.

It took him a moment to realize that it was a kiss.

Morality was kissing him.

There was a brief moment of panic before Logic’s brain basically shut down and he simply sank into the action, his hands reaching forward to grab Morality’s hips. Unfortunately, he was only allowed to enjoy the kiss for another second more before he was forced to pull back, letting out a soft yelp.

“Ouch…” Logic held a hand up to his lips, drifting feather-light touches across the thin skin. Something had… _burned_ him.

“ _Hmm..?_  OHMYGO-LOGAN!”

At the shout, he looked back at Morality. Did the burn look that bad? Of course, he stopped thinking about the pain when he noticed how bright red the other’s face was. The color didn’t match very well with the look of absolute panic.

“What?”

“You… l-look at your hands!” Confused, but deciding to do as he was told, Logic pulled his hand away from his face to get a proper look.

Except, he couldn’t.

Or, not completely at least. His hand was partially see-though. There was only a faint veil of his skin tone in the shape of a hand floating through the air before disappearing into his shirt sleeve. A quick check told him his other hand was in a similar state.

His body gained mass the longer he watched, rather quickly too, so he decided to not worry about it and recalled what made Morality notice the strange reaction in the first place.

Running his tongue along his bottom lip, he winced. It was still tender, and very warm.

“Why did your kiss burn me?”

Morality’s panicked expression changed to confused in a heartbeat, “My… _burn?_ I _burned_ you?”

“Yes… and your face is unusually red…” Logic hesitantly reached forward to lay a hand on the other’s forehead, and quickly pulled back. The touch had been incredibly warm. Not burning like it had been earlier, but still high enough for concern.

“Logan?”

“Your body temperature has dramatically increased… but it seems to be dropping on it’s own, just as my body is returning to its natural state. Hmm…”

Logic tilted his head for a moment, considering the variables while Morality felt his own forehead with his equally warm hands. The persona’s eyes slowly roamed the messy room, stopping briefly at the different books resting haphazardly across the room until finally landing on one that was lying open next to the bathroom door. The pages he could see weren’t even completely filled with text, the words instead running down the middle of the paper in short sentences.

A poem.

He snapped his fingers, “Of course! It’s so simple!”

“What?”

Logic gestured between himself and Morality, “Our bodies are playing to the classic ‘first-kiss’ tropes. The way that poets or writers describe it in their works!”

“Oh!” The other nodded before giving his head a single shake, “I’m not following.”

“Why am I not… never mind. I was talking about how when a character experiences their first kiss, some of the most common phrases used are ‘their mind went blank’ or ‘their heart was on fire’. If you think about it, that’s a very accurate comparison to our symptoms.”

Logic watched as the pieces clicked into place behind Morality’s eyes, “ _Ooooh!_ I get it now! But… does that mean it’ll happen again? I don’t like the idea of my kisses burning _anyone_ , let alone you.”

“Hmm… I suppose that since we’re aware of it we might be able to control it better. After all, once we were aware of the symptoms they disappeared rather quickly. Or perhaps it was a one-off with this being the first time we’ve kissed and all. Of course, before I can make any sort of accurate claim more data would need to be acquired…”

He trailed off, embarrassed by his almost blatant request to kiss Morality again, and glanced at the other. How would he respond…

“So, does that mean that when Roman finally kisses Virgil he’ll swell up like a balloon? I mean, he does sort of embody Thomas’ pride. Hey! Why didn’t I grow wings instead? That’s a much more popular saying, ‘my heart grew wings’! That’s not fair!”

Logic blinked before smirking, unable to not be amused by the other’s annoyance at not actually gaining wings from the kiss, “Well, I must admit I’m partially pleased that I am not the only SandersSide that believes those two would fit well together…” he cleared his throat softly, “But could I make a request that we… not discuss the others at the moment?”

The question got the desired reaction, Morality smiling shyly back at Logic before grinning, “No problem. And… I do have a question for you.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Do you have a map?”

“A… map? To wha-”

“Cause I’m getting lost in your eyes!”

Morality laughed and grinned at the other, waiting for his response. He’d wanted to use that line for _forever!_

“That…” He leaned closer in anticipation, “... was even worse than your Dad-jokes.”

Despite the flat tone, Morality still laughed, “Awww… you know you love them!”

“Again, it isn’t logical, but lately I _have_ been seeing their humor-”

“AWWW! Logan!” Morality leapt forward and hugged Logic tightly, stretching up to kiss the other’s cheek. Feeling Logic’s body tense between his arms, he pulled back, suddenly embarrassed, “Um… I’m sorry. I thought that’s what boyfriends do…”

Logic blinked a few times, processing Morality’s words before slowly nodding his head, “You are… right. That is what boyfriends do. And… we _are_ boyfriends now, correct?”

Morality’s gigantic smile answered the question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE FINALLY HAVE MORALITY'S NAME! IT BROKE MY HEART TO WATCH THE VIDEO LEADING UP TO IT BUT WE GOT IT! *Screams*
> 
> Final little thing: I had fully intended to make this story a Prinxiety fic when I first came up with the idea, but instead it became Logicality. But being stubborn, I just had to put in a bit of Prinxiety. ‘Cuz I’m trash like that. But also because I’m a total sucker for Logicality shipping Prinxiety and vice versa.


	3. Prove it, Princey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anxiety and Creativity hide in the kitchen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. Y’all are going to be the death of me.  
> FIRST, I only wanted to write a one-shot. THEN you all asked for a second chapter and by some stroke of luck I came up with a cute little thing. And FINALLY someone requested a third chapter literally less than an hour after I put up the second one. I’m not trying to guilt trip you though. In fact, I’m honored that you all like this story enough to want more! So thank you for pushing me a little further out of my comfort zone, and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the others.  
> Warning: Some swearing  
> Disclaimer: The SandersSides are not mine.

_Please don’t forget that I’m here, too._ Anxiety risked a glance away from the screen in front of him, peeking at the couple he was tentatively sharing a room with.

Logic and Morality were still cuddling, something they had been doing more and more often lately. As he watched, Logic looked away from the movie they had on and glanced at the other laying across his chest. The intelligent persona smirked before turning back to the screen, holding his boyfriend tighter.

Anxiety rolled his eyes and retreated further into his hanging chair, glad for the dark, enclosed space that allowed him to comfortably spend time in the common room with the others. Of course, everyone’s chairs were pretty much everything they could hope for. Creativity, also known as Prince, had his over-the-top gold-plated throne with plush red cushions that allowed him to be center of attention… as _always._ And Morality used to have a large green Lay-Z-Boy to lounge around in while Logic had his sleek black leather chair… but that was _before_ they got together.

After they made… “Logicality”... official, Morality’s and Logic’s chairs had vanished from the common room and were replaced by a grey two-seater couch. It passed Morality’s softness test (after an excited belly-flop) and yet remained simple enough for Logic to appreciate the change.

And considering Anxiety and Prince had been waiting for those two to get together for literal _years_ (really, you can’t call someone an idiot _that_ many times or bake them _that_ many cookies before other people start to catch on) it had been cute at first. Or… perhaps cute wasn’t the right term for Anxiety.

Maybe tolerable?

But after the first three or four days of ‘Logicality’ getting their feet off the ground, that’s when everything got awkward.

It only took one tentative ‘thank you’ kiss during take-out night to prove that Morality wouldn’t burn his boyfriend’s face off before the Dad persona was _all over_ Logic. At least during the very beginning of the physical side of their relationship Logic had been tentative, shy, and more importantly, _sensible_ about the whole touching and kissing deal.

Until one day he wasn’t.

Prince had experienced his misfortune first, which Anxiety had been pleased with, but after a few days... both had to admit that there were no winners. Except for Morality and Logic. But that was a given.

As it was, Anxiety was pretty sure that he was experiencing a new record. The couple had been cuddling together for perhaps an hour and they hadn’t dissolved into a make-out session yet. Over the past few weeks, he and Prince had both noticed that while Prince was more likely to walk in on the other two, Anxiety was so quiet and still and usually hidden that, if he didn’t make his presence obvious, then it was quite possible for the couple forget he was there and start kissing even if he was in the same room.

Anxiety gave the two on the couch another glance. So far, it looked like they still remembered he was there with them. And yet, he couldn’t help but wish that… oh, this is going to feel so wrong… he wished that Prince were here. Then there’d be no way for Logic and Morality to mistake that they were in an empty room.

Speaking of which, where was Prince? They weren’t watching a Disney movie, but still, he usually…

Anxiety’s thoughts cut off when he heard an unfortunately familiar sound. One of lips on lips.

“Oh for fucks sake, you guys!”

“Language, Virgil!”

Anxiety didn’t listen to Morality’s beratement, instead hauling himself out of his chair and high-tailing it to the kitchen. Closing the door, he leans against it and sighs. There wasn’t much more he could take today…

“So, you’re hiding from them, too?”

The darkly dressed persona’s eyes flew open, “Oh… of course.” He groaned and looked over at the table, “It’s _you._ ”

Prince straightened his back and raised an eyebrow, “Well, that wasn’t very nice… even _if_ you forwent an insulting nickname this time around.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts, Princey. All my annoyance is being used up by the Love Birds in the other room, but I’m sure I can summon some more given enough time.” Anxiety pushed himself away from the door, deciding to look for something to eat before sneaking back to his room.

As he started opening different cupboards, Prince nodded his head, “I know what you mean. I was going to join you all out there, but when I saw how Morality was sprawled out over Logic... there was just no way that they’d get through the whole movie.”

“Oh, please.” Anxiety rolled his eyes as he set the granola bars back on the shelf, “Logic might be just as touchy as Dad, but he’s still not at the point where he’ll start kissing him if there’s someone else in the room. The only reason it happens when _I’m_ around is because they forget I’m there.”

Prince chuckled, dipping another corner of his grilled cheese sandwich into his tomato soup, “Well then, I suppose that explains why that’s never happened to me.”

“It sure does.”

They elaborated in unison:

“I’m too radiant and awesome.”

“You’re too annoying and loud.”

Anxiety snorted at the other’s indigent reply of ‘Hey!’, but continued to inspect the box of Mac & Cheese. Was he hungry enough for a whole box? Or maybe he should just make a grilled cheese like Princey? The smell was starting to make his stomach growl…

“Oh, did you want a sandwich, too?”

Nevermind.

“No. You’ll probably poison it.”

“I would not!”

Anxiety groaned and rolled his eyes, turning around to actually face the other, “Look _Prince Charming_ , I might be too horrified and disgusted by the others to properly insult you every day like I used to, but please don’t forget that we usually _hate_ each other. It’s just so happens that at this moment we share a common annoyance. And since Reason is never around, there’s literally no one else to complain to. So for both of our sakes, let’s just agree to a truce until the others stop being gross, yeah?”

“I… I do not hate you, Anxiety. You annoy me, but it is not hate.”

That confession caught the ‘Emo’ off guard for a second, he would later admit, but he still managed to smirk and brush it off, as per usual, “Oh, right. I forgot! If you hated me, you wouldn’t be helping me come up with those ideas all the time, would you?”

“I told you that wasn’t a choice of mine!”

“And yet, Common Sense was the one who pointed it out.” Anxiety smirked, pleased at how huffy Prince was getting, then a thoughtful expression washed over, “Where do you think he is? I’ve seen him maybe once since the video…”

“I do not know. Perhaps he's just staying out of everyone’s business. It doesn’t really matter, we’ve gotten along just fine without him until this point.” Prince quickly stuffed a large bite into his mouth, attempting to avoid the look of surprise on the other boy’s face.

“Hmm…” Anxiety rattled an almost empty container of Pringles before responding, “You seem to be very… touchy about him, aren’t you, Prissy?”

“That’s even worse than the Gaston comment, but I will ignore it in favor of denying your statement. I simply don’t see why he had to come out of nowhere and start interfering with our lives, and we _let_ him.”

“He’s the reason Morality and Logic stopped dancing around each other.”

Prince threw his arms outward, gesturing to the whole room, “And look where that’s got us! We’re hiding in the _kitchen_ while they make out on the couch for goodness sakes!”

Anxiety rolled his eyes again, still searching for those strawberries he _knew_ had been in the refrigerator yesterday, “Yeah, but he did help us out with some other stuff. Like, really, when was the last time you argued with Logic when he told you that your idea didn’t make sense?”

“Hey, that’s just because I’m a nice person!”

The responding snort was answer enough.

Prince polished off the first half of his sandwich before waving his free hand through the air, “Let’s just change the subject.”

“To _what?_ ”

“Like… I dunno… why did Morality start to burn up instead of growing wings? I have a feeling he is still somewhat upset about that.”

Anxiety smirked, unwrapping a cheese stick he’d found hiding in the bottom drawer of the fridge, “Sure. I have a theory. It’s one thing for your physical body to be affected in a strange way that could be reversible, but another thing entirely to grow new appendages. Come on… that’s just Common Sense.”

Prince grit his teeth before continuing to stir his bowl of soup, “Right. So, what do you suppose will happen to… us?” The cheese stick froze just before Anxiety could take a bite. He stared at the other, who quickly started waving his hands, “I didn’t mean us… _together!_ Gosh, you’ve such a filthy mind, Anxiety! I meant in general!”

“Oh…” Anxiety’s heart restarted and he took a big bite of cheese, thinking it over, “Mmmm… well, how large do you think your head will swell up? Maybe like a hot air balloon?”

“Why do I even bother?”

“You asked!” The darkly dressed persona smirked and shook his head, “You are Thomas’s Pride and all.”

“I am not Pride! If anything that would be Logic! He always has to be right! No such thing will happen to my head!”

“Fine, then what do _you_ think will happen, Prissy?”

“Don’t push your luck, Pumpkin King. And isn’t it obvious? I’ll start shining gold!” Prince grinned, eyes losing focus as he started daydreaming, “Just like when the Beast was released from the curse…”

“Stockholm Syn-”

“There are multiple arguments against Beauty and the Beast being about Stockholm Syndrome but I don’t have the time to prove it right now!”

Anxiety scoffed, but he knew what Prince was talking about. The dummy had tagged him in multiple posts from Tumblr rebutting his arguments from The Dark Side of Disney video, and while he would never admit it outloud, he could agree with them, because they were also a little dark in their own way. That was kinda the reason for his Gaston comment when they first met the fifth SandersSide…

“You know, perhaps you won’t swell up… but you sure as Hell won’t shine either. Most likely, you’ll start to wither away.”

“Hey!” Prince stood up, his fists clenched and jaw set. Anxiety had a feeling he was beginning to toe the line, but didn’t move away when the other walked closer, “We haven’t even discussed what will happen to _you_ , Anxiety. I bet you’ll grow _butterfly_ wings, to stimulate the butterflies in one’s stomach.”

“That’s describing have a _crush_ , Charming, not a first kiss.”

“Same principle!”

“And didn’t I just explain why having extra appendages isn’t reasonable?”

“Oh, _now_ you’re going to talk about reason, after talking about how my head would either swell to hot air balloon size or my body will shrivel up. Excuse me, but I’m having a difficult time finding where you draw the line.”

“Same, Prissy.”

“Okay, you need to _stop_ with that one.”

“That’s not likely.”

“Then at least admit that my first kiss reaction will not be nearly as embarrassing as you’re attempting to make it out to be.”

The two were almost nose to nose, and Anxiety wasn’t sure what to do. He was having fun poking at Prince and teasing him, but it looked like the other was started to get mad. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he continued, and yet he didn’t want to stop.

So, he leaned back against the countertop and smirked, “That’s what you want me to say, Prince Charming? Then _prove it_ , Princey.”

His only warning was the press of two hands on his cheeks before Anxiety was pulled into a hard kiss.

Immediately his hands grabbed the granite countertop behind him, empty cheesestick wrapper fluttering down to the floor. Anxiety’s eyes were stretched wide open as he stared at the other persona who was kissing him. Well, it almost didn’t qualify as a kiss… Prince was the one kissing. Anxiety was frozen in place.

As his brain attempted to catch up with the present, Anxiety watched as the closed eyelids in front of his face suddenly darkened to a… blue?

Yup. The longer the kiss went on, the more colors he saw appear on Prince’s skin. Or at least the parts he could see anyways. Bright blue, yellow, orange, neon purple… it was like one of those Leonid Afremov paintings that Logic and Morality liked to look at online.

The longer the kiss went on, the lower Anxiety’s eyelids drifted. Eventually they closed completely, the dark persona straightening out his slouch a little to match the other’s height. Except, Princey kept moving. Like… shifting from side to side. Quickly.

It was only when Roman moved back that Anxiety realized it wasn’t the other who was moving.

Anxiety was literally vibrating. He lifted his hands and only saw a blur.

“W-w-w-w-ha-ha-ha-ha?”

“Virgil! Focus!”

At the use of his real name, Anxiety looked up and tried to force the other’s face shift back into solid form. Bright colors and all. The vibrating slowed to a stop relatively quickly, sticking true to Logic’s word.

“Oh, thank goodness! I was worried for a second there!” Roman smiled at the other, “What kissing trope do you think _that_ was playing to?”

“I don’t know. I also don’t know why you look like a stand in for a Van Gogh painting.”

“What?” Prince turned to look at his reflection in the microwave and nearly screamed, “ _What is that on my face?!_ ”

“Colors... Bright neon colors.”

Now that he could see Prince in full view, Anxiety attempted to take in as much as he could. All of the skin he could see on the other was covered in swirled and splattered colors. There was even some in his hair! One of the most prominent markings was the large pink and blue swirl that curled around Prince’s eyes, ending just above his right eyebrow. It was like he had gone on a color run, then mugged by preschoolers with paintbrushes...

Unfortunately, the colors started fading as soon as Prince stopped freaking out about it. He sighed with relief as the green splotch around his mouth faded away, everything back to normal. Anxiety only wished he’d had a camera on him.

Prince looked over at him, and for a moment he wondered if the colors were coming back… but it was just a blush.

_Oh…_

Anxiety ducked his head, not quite sure what to say.

“So… that was interesting.”

“Yeah. Now you know, I suppose. You didn’t exactly shine gold… but good call, Roman.”

“Aha!” Prince was grinning, puffing his chest out a bit as he winked at the other, “I finally got you to call me by my real name!”

“Don’t push your luck, Princey.”

Prince opened his mouth to say something else, but just then someone opened the door that lead to the bedrooms. It was Reason. The youngest SandersSide raised an eyebrow at the two of them, prompting Prince to take a hasty step away from Anxiety, cheeks flushing a darker red than before.

Reason scoffed and walked over to the sink, pulling out a glass from the cupboard and start filling it up with water, “In case you were wondering, for highly creative people a first kiss can spark inspiration like none other. And many artistic people tend to start using bright colors after their first kiss. Also, people who have anxiety are often stuck in between panicking and completely relaxing, struggling between a fight or flight response.” He drained the glass and stuck it in the dishwasher before turning to face the others.

“I suggest you tell the other two about your newfound relationship soon. I’m sure that Morality would like his ten dollars from Logic sooner rather than later.”

The youngest persona almost got out of the kitchen when a voice called out, “Wait! What do you mean ten dollars?”

Reason smirked at Prince over his shoulder, “Oh, he knew that you two would figure it out without needing outside assistance.” And then he was gone, leaving silence in his wake.

Anxiety was still leaning against the counter top, the edge starting to dig uncomfortably into the base of his spine. But he didn’t want to move away. At the moment, the counter was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

In front of him, Prince cleared his throat, face still a dark red shade, “Well… I suppose... if he wasn't surprised…”

The other hesitated, but Anxiety understood. Which is probably what possessed him to jump forward and press another kiss to Roman’s lips, hands curled up in the red sash that crossed his chest.

Pulling away, Anxiety took one look at Prince’s face and started laughing. The other was staring at him in shock, but also with a pleased… sort of dazed expression. And then there was the large splatter of purple across his mouth, which was just too funny to ignore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah… yeah. I couldn’t find any real tropes for creativity and anxiety, so I made up my own. I hope you like them! And Reason made another appearance! Yay!  
> And I finally completed my original purpose of writing this story! Prinxiety! I’m proud of me.  
> Welp, I hope you enjoyed reading this!


	4. Matchmaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton has a plan...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh for goodness sakes, fine. You’re making me way more invested in this story than I set out to be. Oh well, broadening my horizons and all that.  
> Also, in light of the Accepting Anxiety videos which freaking destroyed my heart I needed some fluff and damn it all if I can’t find it I will CREATE IT!  
> But in all seriousness, for this story, just imagine that there’s a difference between the SanderSide’s ‘Rooms’ and their rooms. Their Rooms are the corner of their minds where each side is strongest/where they originated from/private places for them only. Basically, the four opposing corners of Thomas’s mind. Their rooms are more common ground, where they stay when Thomas doesn’t need to heighten any one of them. For example, in ‘Accepting Anxiety’, they went to Anxiety’s ‘Room’ because Anxiety could forcefully keep himself from being summoned or others from appearing if he wanted to unless Thomas helped. Which is why the others could go in afterwards without Thomas: Anxiety allowed entry.

 

“Logaaaaaan!”

Patton unhappily flopped backwards over the armrest, his back hitting the white cushions of the couch with a soft  _ pamf _ . After a bit of wiggling, the Dad persona managed to push his head into his boyfriend’s lap, forcing the logical side to look away from his book and down at the other.

“Is there something you require, Patton?”

The other pouted, “You’re ignoring me.”

“Liar. It’s impossible to ignore you, especially as you rarely ever stop speaking and we’re together for approximately 68.42% of the time every day, if not more.” Logan hummed as he closed his book. He should really consider recalculating that figure… it was probably much higher now that Patton slept over most nights.

His boyfriend, however, continued pouting, “Oh really? What did I just say before I sat down?”

“I’d hardly call this  _ sitting… _ ”

“Logaaan...”

Logan hesitated, but finally sighed and lightly petted Patton’s hair, “Fine, I apologize for ignoring you, but I have to finish this book by Thursday. Please forgive me?”

Instantly Patton was sitting up and kissing the other’s cheek, “Awwww! I can’t stay mad at you, Logan! Apology accepted!”

He rolled his eyes, but Logan still managed a small smile as he accepted the other’s affection. Casting one last forlorn glance at the book in his hand, he sighed and set it down before wrapping his arms around the other's waist, “Now that you've succeeded in claiming my full attention, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

“We need to get Roman and Virgil together.”

Logan pushed his boyfriend back a little to make direct eye contact, “Are… where did that declaration come from?”

The other shrugged, “I dunno… just seems like something we should do.”

“... Your reasoning aside, aren’t you the one who positively  _ insisted _ that those two would discover their own mutual attraction to each other without us needing to, quote unquote, "meddle"?”

“Yeah… but I don’t care about winning the bet. I just think it needs to happen.” Noticing his boyfriend’s apprehensive expression, Patton whined a little more, “Come on, Lo… you know I can’t do it by myself! You make such good plans…” Logan smirked, readjusting his glasses as  the typical smug expression that usually followed Patton's praises settled on his face. On the outside, Patton pretended like he didn’t know what he was doing.

Logan delicately pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, trying to maintain his crumbling defenses, “Well… I’m sure you’d be perfectly capable of executing this mission yourself-”

“Nooooo… I need your help! We can’t let them knoooow! And,” Patton bit his lower lip, looking down at his lap, “I wanna do this with you.”

Logan’s left eyebrow arched. He could almost  _ swear _ Patton was doing this on purpose… but at the same time, if he helped out in getting the other two together, he would technically win the $10 they had previously agreed upon. And there  _ was _ that book about dogs Thomas had spotted at the store a few days ago that Patton would probably enjoy reading with him…

“Very well, I suppose if you insist there’s nothing wrong with-”

Logan’s boyfriend immediately started showering his face in kisses, interrupting whatever he was about to say with his own ‘thank you’s’ and ‘I love you’s’. Logan felt like his tongue was tying itself in a knot, his attempted responses not even making sense to his own ears. By the time Patton calmed down enough to allow Logan to respond to the affection, the logical side’s body had gone entirely opaque.

Patton’s kisses were also a little on the warm side, but neither persona was complaining.

* Time Skip *

“Chore Day!”

“Save yourselves!” Virgil tried to escape the little cocoon that was his chair and into his hallway, but Patton caught the back of his hoodie before he could get too far. The darkly dressed side went limp, not even bothering to fight back.  _ No one _ could truly escape Patton on Chore Day, one of the few times the ‘Serious Dad’ came out in the open.

“Logan? Dusting.” He was answered with a sigh before a Swiffer duster appeared in the other’s hand and he went off.

Patton nodded in approval, “Roman? Kitchen.”

“Awww,  _ what? _ I got Kitchen duty  _ last _ -” Patton cleared his throat and the Prince skulked off, muttering under his breath.

“Thanks, kiddo! And as for  _ you, _ Houdini,” he lightly jiggled the handful of sweatshirt he was holding, “Sweeping and mopping.”

Virgil’s arms had knotted themselves tightly together during his “not pouting” at being caught, so it was a surprise when he sprang to his feet as soon as he did, “Wait… not floors in general?”

“Well… I figured I could give you an easy week this time. I’ll take care of vacuuming.” It was clear that the anxious side wanted to question further, but then his eyes noted Logan dusting around the seating area.

He rolled his eyes and started walking towards the kitchen, “If you wanted to spend Chore day with your boyfriend, you just had to say so.”

“Well, if you  _ want _ to vacuum-”

“No take backs!” Virgil immediately ran into the kitchen after Roman, the door slamming shut behind him. Patton grinned, glancing at his boyfriend over his shoulder. Logan smirked back and nodded in approval. It would seem as though  _ all _ the Sides had  _ some _ ability to act.

Patton bounded over to the far side of the room, summoning a vacuum cleaner, “So, do you think that’ll do it?”

“While I admire your optimism, Patton, something must be said about your impatience. There is no way that they will begin a relationship with each other simply because they’ll be working in the same room for a few hours, at most. This plan of yours will take multiple days, perhaps even weeks to accomplish.”

Patton’s smile vanished as he stared down at the vacuum cleaner in front of him, “So… how many weeks will I have an extra chore?”

“For as long as you can bear it, I imagine.”

“Oh.”

* The Next Day *

_ Knock knock! _

“Roman? You in there?” Patton rocked back on his heels as he stared up at the white double doors before him. Golden leaf details were embedded in the wood, looking like they were actually growing from the floor and around the frame. Humming, Patton admired the design for a moment before pressing his ear against the door.

He couldn’t hear any fighting, shouting, or even singing. He frowned and stepped away. Sure, he could just ‘appear’ in the other room if he wanted to, but when it came to Roman… he found it in his best interest to wait to be invited in. The last time he’d gone in without invitation he’d almost been eaten by a drakon.

There’s a difference between a drakon and a dragon... apparently.

He knocked one last time before giving up, unhappily trudging back down the hallway towards the common room. He officially had no idea where Roman was, which was disheartening. He’d had another idea on how to get Roman and Virgil together, but now the person he needed was missing.

Patton paused as he was passing the door to Roman’s room. Hesitantly, he opened the door again and peeked inside for a second time that day. Somehow, even though he knew it would be, Patton’s spirits managed to sink even lower when the room proved to be empty.

Mood efficiently soured, the Moral side exited Roman’s hallway and belly flopped onto his and Logan’s sofa. Immediately he felt a combination of worse and better. The cushions smelled like his boyfriend, a testament to the long hours they had snuggled together in this exact spot, and any memory of his time with Logan made Patton’s heart really happy. But, Logan was also in his Room. Probably teaching a class. Away from Patton.

Pouting, he rolled onto his back and sat up. Maybe he should make lunch? That might be able to coax the others out of hiding! Yes! That was a good-

His thoughts tumbled to a stop when Roman walked into the room. From  _ Virgil’s _ hallway. And… was that paint?

Roman’s face was covered in various bright colors. Some looked meticulously painted on, artfully curled around his cheeks to accentuate his cheekbones, but there were a few areas that appeared to be splashed around randomly. Even his hair had a rainbow tinge to it. Patton was reminded of those really pretty and colorful paintings Logan liked to look at with him online.

Noticing the other persona in the room, Roman smiled brightly in his direction, “Greetings, Patton! How are you this fine day?”

“Um… good? Missing Logan.”

“Ahh…” the creative side nodded reverently, “Your beloved is away. But do not fret my friend, he will return soon and you two can perform your usual… er, slightly obnoxious… declarations of devotion for each other. Now, I was wondering if perhaps you wanted some lunch? I was just speaking to Virgil and he has requested Macaroni and Cheese. Would you like some as well?”

“I… yes, please! Thank you! I was just about to make lunch myself.”

Roman flicked his hand dramatically, “What nonsense! You can’t be expected to make all of our meals all the time! What sort of family would we be if we gave you that chore day in and day out?”

Patton’s mouth fell open.

Just before Roman could disappear into the kitchen, the other jolted in his seat, “What’s up with your face?”

“...What?”

“All those colors.”

Roman froze, the colors now starting to fade away even as his face reddened, “I… I was just running some ideas by Virgil so none of them would put Thomas in any situations he’d be uncomfortable with. Yes, that was it! And this was one of them! The… the ideas, I mean.”

“Oh! Okay, kiddo! You can go make lunch now, I won’t keep you!”

Roman managed another nod before quickly disappearing into the kitchen. Patton watched the doorway for another three seconds before vaulting himself over the back of the couch and down Virgil’s hallway.

“Virgil! Virgil? Kiddo, are you in there?” Patton knocked on the door to Virgil’s room perhaps five times before just barging inside.

The other side in the room jumped, quickly pressing a hand to his chest, “ _ G-geez _ , Pat-t-ton! Give m-me a little w-warning next t-t-time!”

The ‘Dad’ persona would’ve responded, but found himself caught off guard by a number of things. He’d never  _ been _ in Virgil’s room before, and he liked it quite a bit more than his Room. First of all, there were no sign of those creepy crawly death dealers  _ anywhere _ . The few windows that were in the room were framed with simple shimmering grey curtains, and the room looked to be freshly dusted and web-free. The walls and carpet were a solid black, which was probably to be expected, but the ceiling was actually painted to resemble the Milky Way. The room felt very snug, but not confining.

Once he was finished admiring Virgil’s aesthetics, Patton returned his attention to the other side… and yelped.

“Virgil, are you okay? You’re  _ shaking _ , are you cold? Did Roman say something mean-”

“Woah! Hold up!” Virgil held up his hands, displaying a paused round of Temple Run on his phone screen as he did so. Patton didn’t even notice how there was a hint of a blush beneath the boy’s foundation, too busy wrapping the other up in the black cat blanket laying on the end of the bed.

Once he was secured in the blanket and he was no longer shaking, Virgil cleared his throat, “I was just... a little cold. You were right, Patton. Thanks. And, um, Roman didn’t say anything mean. In fact… I think he was worried I was cold, too. He mentioned it, at least.”

“Awww… how sweet of him!” Patton grinned at the other, “Well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, kiddo! Roman’s making some mac-and-cheese, so we’ll call for you when it’s all done, ok?”

“Okay. Thanks, Patton.”

And with that, Morality skipped out of the room. It looked like Virgil and Roman were getting along better than he had hoped! Maybe it wouldn’t take them long at all to get together? That would be fantastic!

“Patton?”

The side paused before happily jumping into his boyfriend’s arms, “Logan! You’re done with class?”

“Not yet, it’s merely time for lunch. I’ll have to go back in 43 minutes and 27 seconds so it would be perspicacious of me to starting preparing a meal-”

“Oh, don’t worry about that! Roman’s making us all mac-and-cheese for lunch!” Logan’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise as his boyfriend happily dragged him over to their couch. “Yeah, I was looking for him earlier but he wasn’t down his hallway at  _ all _ , but it turned out he was visiting Virgil in  _ his _ room and Virgil asked for mac-and-cheese for lunch so now Roman’s making some for all of us!”

“Hmm.” Patton happily leaned his head down on Logan’s shoulder, content to wait while his boyfriend carefully considered all of his words before responding. “It would appear that your strategy for bringing our fellow sides together in a romantic relationship such as ours is slowly achieving success.”

Patton giggled happily, wrapping both of his arms around Logan’s left in order to snuggle him better, “I know! Roman’s getting so much better at being nice to Virgil!”

“And your plan for today? How did that idea fare?”

“My what?”

Logan blinked, “Your idea? The one you were rambling on about nonstop last night? Isn’t that why you were looking for Roman in the first place?”

It took Patton all of five seconds to run through the doorway that lead to the kitchen, “Roman!”

“Ahhh!” The Prince jumped in place, the wooden spoon in his hand clattering on the tile floor, “Patton! What ails you? Has a dangerous beast appeared in the living room?”

“Wha- no! I just remembered I had to ask you a question!”

“Oh.” Roman looked oddly disappointed as he scooped up the dirty spoon and tossed it into the sink, “Well, what is it?”

“I need date ideas-” Patton paused when his shoulders were suddenly pinned in a tight grip. Roman was grinning ear to ear, his face lit up like a christmas tree.

“I thought you’d  _ never _ ask, dear Patton!”

Before he knew it, Roman was practically waltzing around the kitchen, his arms gesturing grandly as he spun out romantic idea after romantic idea. Patton sat in stunned silence for a few minutes as he just listened to the other. He had some  _ really good ideas… _ why hadn’t he done this before?

A clattering sound is what called the two back to reality, turning to stare at the pot whose lid was bouncing like mad above the boiling water. Roman muttered a soft curse as he ran to check on the food, leaving Patton a moment to recollect his thoughts. Why had he asked for that again?  _ Hmmm… oh yeah! _

Clearing his throat, Patton rocked in his seat, “Wow, Roman. Those were some good ideas.” He paused, allowing Roman to smirk and preen in peace for a moment, “I must admit, I liked the one that involved the surprise-gift of a puppy, because it would be  _ adorable… _ but that rose petal one did seem a little… _cheesy!_ "  Roman managed a small smile at the pun, setting the packet of cheese back onto the counter before the other came up with more puns... but Patton wasn't done.

“What do you think Virgil would think of it?”

Roman darn near dropped the whole pot into the sink. After he regained his grip on the handle and dumped the macaroni into the colander, he turned around to face Patton. The moral side just barely held back his giggles when he noticed a bit of a blush on Roman’s face.

But then the moment passed and Roman turned to place the metal pot back on the stove, “Ah, perhaps we will never know. Virgil might be a bit of a romantic, or he could easily hate each of the ideas that escape his comfort zone. He hides his “embarrassing” emotions really well, if you haven’t notice. But perhaps someday we’ll find out.”

Patton nodded, resting his face in his palm. That wasn’t  _ exactly _ the response he wanted. A little more stuttering and being embarrassed about the idea of Virgil on a date would’ve been better. Maybe Roman’s competitive streak coming into play and trying his ideas on Virgil to “prove” they were good ideas even for Anxiety?

“Lunch is almost ready, Patton. Would you tell the others?”

“Sure, Roman!”  Patton's response was just as cheerful as usual, but the pep had left his step as he went back into the living room. He was gonna need cuddles  _ big time _ later on.

* Time Skip *

Logan felt his boyfriend shift once more before settling his head on Logan’s shoulder with a sigh. He smirked. Ever since Patton’s self-proclaimed failure during lunch that day, he’d been incredibly clingy. He’d even asked to come with Logan back to class, and then curled up on Logan’s bed when he was told no.

However, now the school day was done and the two were cuddled up on their couch in the common room, watching ‘The Book of Pooh’ on the television. Patton had needed his spirits lifted, so Logic didn’t complain.

His boyfriend hummed the theme song under his breath, head bobbing in time with a tiny smile on his face. Logan found himself smiling as well, his right arm comfortable resting across Patton’s shoulders as the movie continued. A quick glance to the other side of the room reminded him that Virgil had silently joined them. The darkly dressed trait was sprawled inside of his hanging chair, one leg dangling towards the floor and his phone in hand should the movie prove boring.

This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence as of late. About a week ago, after he and Patton had embarrassingly forgotten there was a third party in the room, Virgil had actually changed his common room seat. Now, instead of it looking like what Roman had called ‘A floating grey egg’, it was a wicker chair that was woven tightly enough to provide some concealment, it wasn’t easy to not notice when Virgil was inside.

Logan nudged Patton’s arm and pointed out the newcomer. Patton, of course, had no subtly and happily announced, “Your new sweatshirt is  _ amazing, _ Virgil! Where’d you get it?”

The anxious trait froze for a moment before shrugging, “It was just… in my room. I heard the movie and thought this would be appropriate.” The sweatshirt they were discussing was grey with a mopey Eeyore on the front, and it was currently replacing Virgil’s old black one in his ensemble. Logan had a feeling Patton was going to start wanting a similar article of clothing with Pooh Bear on it in the near future. But… it would look cute, so perhaps Logan wouldn’t complain.

“Aha! I thought I heard Disney songs!”

Roman was standing at the mouth of his hallway, nodding appreciatively at the screen. His eyes roamed around the three other sides in the room, and Logan rolled his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the dramatic side to start moaning about how unfair it was to not invite him to the movie watching. And then Patton would become upset and Virgil would poke fun at Roman and Logan would get a headache and have to explain the situation before Patton started crying…

Roman’s eyes stopped on Virgil, clearly regarding his new sweatshirt... and he said nothing.

Instead, he positively  _ struts _ into the room before collapsing into his chair, legs thrown over one of the arm rests and propping his chin on his fist before focusing on the movie. Logan couldn’t help but think that the other’s actions were a little… odd.  _ But then again, _ he reasoned,  _ Roman  _ is _ naturally prideful. He’s probably amused that Virgil likes a Disney movie enough to have an Eeyore sweatshirt. _

He’s called out of his thoughts by Patton poking at his side. He turns towards the other who is smiling at the other two.

“ _ Let’s go watch this in my room. For… privacy. _ ”

Logan almost blushed at Patton’s suggestion… until he realized the privacy was not solely meant for  _ them. _ Not wanting to dash the other’s hopes by saying watching a movie in the same room didn’t necessarily mean anything, he nodded and quietly followed his boyfriend off the couch and down his hallway, leaving the other two alone.

Virgil watched as the couple not-so-sneakily ran off together, raising an eyebrow in amusement. Once they were out of sight and he heard Patton’s door shut, he paused the movie. Roman looked up at him with a similar expression.

“So, how long should we keep it from them?”

Virgil shrugged, shifting himself into a more comfortable position, “I dunno, but I have a feeling Pat’s running out of ideas. It was fun for a while, but I don’t feel like being locked in a closet for hours on end, with you or otherwise.”

“Is that so?” Roman winked, causing the other to look away with a scoff, “Very well. I suppose our fun has reached its end. And I, for one, am a little curious as to how our chairs will merge together.”

“Of course that’s what  _ you _ would focus on, Princey.”

“You love it. So… shall we just come out and say it?”

* The Next Morning *

“Wait… run that by us again?”

Patton was half-in, half-out of his chair, palms splayed out on the table as he stared down the two sides standing before them. His boyfriend was seated to his right, coffee mug frozen a few inches from his lips. Chris was there, too, still quietly sipping his orange juice as he leaned against the counter, watching the scene with what one might even consider glee. It wasn’t often that he came out of his hallway, considering his job was ‘never done’, so this was probably quite entertaining to him.

Roman, knowing his boyfriend was probably second guessing himself and beginning to panic, gave the boy’s hand a squeeze before announcing, once again, “We’re dating.”

Chris snorted softly, snatching a piece of bacon from the plate on the table, “Actually, they’ve been dating for about a week. I’m surprised they haven’t gotten around to telling you until now.”

The silence that followed lasted for a total of six seconds.

“HA!” Patton stepped backwards and pointed a finger in Logan’s face, “I TOLD YOU! THEY DID IT BY THEMSELVES! HAHAHA!” His boyfriend didn’t really react other than setting the mug back down. He appeared dumbfounded. Virgil let out a long breath of relief, still holding Roman’s hand, which made the other beam.

Chris continued to watch in silence until he finished his bacon. Then, he walked behind Logan and lightly kicked his chair, “I believe you owe Morality something?”

Without ever changing his expression, Logan slowly withdrew his wallet and handed over a ten dollar bill. Patton plucked the money from the man’s fingers with a playful ‘thank you~’ before pecking his cheek.

Then he laughed again as his boyfriend went transparent.


	5. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! I swear!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to have a familiar feel to the first chapter, in that the explanations are purely my ideas and concepts. You can add on or disagree however you wish, these are just my personal head canons.

 

Thomas hummed a happy tune, bobbing his head slightly as he finished setting up the camera before him. Pulling his hands back, the man laughed with glee as the equipment remained still. It was perfect!

In fact… the past week has pretty much been the best week of his life. He was just so… happy! All the time! Internally he worried that perhaps Patton was going through something and was trying to cover it up, but when he called his Morality up a few days ago to ask about it, Patton had clearly been just as honestly happy as Thomas was.

And speaking of his SanderSides, it had been nearly a month since his last video with them, when they first met Reason, and it was high-time for the next one. And this time, he  _ knew _ he had a good idea. Even Joan had given it their whole approval. It was sure to make Roman happy at the very least.

Shaking his shoulders out, Thomas let out a breath before reaching forward. Counting backwards from three, he pressed the record button.

“Hey, so a lot of people have asked me where I get all of my ideas, so I am  _ finally _ gonna tell you all the secret to my success… it’s-” He cuts himself off, giggling a little, knowing his fans would be more than a little irritated with that title sequence interruption. “What is up, everybody?  _ Man _ , do we have a lot to talk about! For those of you who watched my last video, you know that we all met someone  _ new _ , and it got me thinking… the best way to get to know someone is to know their past. So… today, I’m going to do something that I’ve had on the backburner for sometime and do a ‘Draw my Life’!”

He beamed at the camera, eyes darting around his living room. No doubt Virgil was going to appear suddenly like last time, once again pointing out the flaws behind the idea. Or perhaps even Roman, overcome with excitement from Thomas finally following through with the old idea. Logan was also a possibility, stating that he had already announced beforehand that he was going to go through with the idea, and say something about his procrastination on the idea. Then again… he had to assume that Patton really liked to color and draw fun stuff, so he could also be the first.

But… they don’t appear.

None of them.

Not even Chris.

“Um… well, I know it’s not exactly an… original idea…” Thomas looked around again. He was going to have to add in cricket noises during editing… “But, um, a lot of you have been- okay, this clearly isn’t working. CAN YOU GUYS PLEASE GET OUT HERE? MORALITY! LOGIC! CREATIVITY! ANXIETY!”

Immediately they appeared, looking vaguely windblown from the harsh summonings. Patton stumbled a little, falling backwards against the blinds.

Virgil held up his hands, palms forward, “Whatever you’re upset about, Thomas, I just want you to know that I... had no part in it.”

“Wow, way to throw the rest of us under the bus, Freak-Out Boy.”

“That just makes us sound more guilty, Roman.”

“Okay, pump the brakes!” Thomas clapped his hands together twice, “I’m not upset or anything, I just wanted you all out here to help me with the ‘Draw my Life’ video.”

“Aha!” Roman tossed his hand up in his signature pose, “So you have finally accepted my idea? It’s about time!” Virgil rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn’t comment. Logan, however, did.

“We are aware of what this video is meant to denote, Thomas, due to your earlier introduction, but… why do you require our presence?”

“Well, that’s the twist I wanted to add to make the idea my own. I want  _ you guys _ to draw  _ your lives _ as parts of  _ my _ personality. I’m curious about when you started… “existing”.”

Logan exchanged a glance with Virgil, who looked just as confused, “Then why not just call us in the first place?”

“I… didn’t think I’d need to. You normally just  _ show up- _ ”

“Well, it must be said, Thomas: Congratulations on making the idea your own!”

The man smiled, nodding at bit at the compliment, “Thank you, Roman.”

“ _ You’re welcome~ _ ”

“ _ Oy vey. _ ”

“Now, come on, Virgil, cut Roman some slack.” Patton’s hands were on his hips, a sure sign of- “You know how much he likes to  _ rock _ on.”

Virgil let out another soft groan, but even he had a small smile on his face. Once he couldn’t avoid the father-like trait’s eyes any longer he raised his hands in defeat, “Ugh, fine… I suppose I’ll give him a pass since he’s mimicking The Rock.”

“Truth.”

“Um, excuse me?” Logan couldn’t have looked more lost or concerned even if someone had just dropped him off at a Flat-Earth convention, “How could he be mimicking a rock? A rock is a solid aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids… it’s inanimate and can’t sing- Wait, are you perhaps referring to a cartoon or yet another contemporary slang word?”

“Neither, actually- well… you’re closer with the first one but that’s not quite it.”

“It’s a nickname for a famous actor, Lo. I’ll explain later.” Thomas eyed Patton with interest as he smiled at the logical trait. What exactly had happened when they sank out after the last video? Had they managed to talk at least? They seemed closer from the looks of it.

Deciding not to worry about it unless it became a more pressing issue, Thomas cleared his throat, “Are- can I continue? With my idea?” The four nodded, some looking more sheepish than others. “Great! Well, the basic idea is that you're going to draw out your lives -with some prompting and questions from me- as best as you can. Does that sound fair?”

“You realize that most of us have the same drawing skills that you do?”

“Yes, but you’re also bound to have your own quirks with drawing and your own ways of telling the story, so this will still be fun.”

“Wait, we’re missing something.” Without waiting for a reply, Patton cupped his hands around his mouth, “Chris? Reason, could you come up here, kiddo?”

As if on cue, Thomas’ fifth and latest ‘Side’ popped up between him and Patton. Thomas wasn’t sure if the new position was because of the animosity from Logan in the last video, or how it was clear Chris cared for Patton, or if he somehow knew where Thomas had set up the sixth camera given what room was left in this corner of his apartment. It was times like this that Thomas  _ really _ wished that mind-palace thing had worked out. There was so much more  _ room _ there. Maybe if more Sides showed up it would take care of the echo…

Back in the present, Chris looked around at the rest of them with a simple smile and nodded in response to the greetings. Another thing Thomas was starting to notice about his Reason… he was very calm and collected. He didn’t seem to  _ lack _ emotion or logic… or creativity or concern, either. But he was much better at seeing the bigger picture…

“Hello, Thomas. It’s nice to see you again.”

The man in question shook his head a bit, trying to pull himself out of his own thoughts, “Yeah, dude. Same. Are you here to help out with the video, too?”

“It would appear so. Thank you for inviting me, Patton.”

“Aww… you’re welcome, kiddo.”

Thomas smiled up at the camera, “Well, let’s get started.” He snapped his fingers.

* * *

The next moment and they were all back at-

“My… dream space. This is my-”

“Yes, Logan, I’m borrowing your stage for a bit. Is that alright?”

“Ah…” The five sides were looking around the dimly lit room, all the spotlights on them and the large whiteboard behind them, which was set up on an easel. They stood in a line in front of the board, going Patton, Logan, Roman, Virgil, and Chris from Thomas’ left to right. Thomas himself was sitting at the same desk he used as a mediator the first time he’d been introduced to the area. Logan looked up and down the row, then down at his black marker, and finally up to Thomas again, “Yes, it’s quite alright, Thomas. I’m glad that we can utilize this space again.”

Thomas nodded before straightening up in his seat, “Then let’s begin…  _ when did you guys first appear in my mind? _ ”

“Oh, I was first, kiddo!”

* * *

A little stick figure with a box for a body appeared in blue marker, a big smile on its face as it waved at the camera. From the looks of it, the figure had a big flower on its shirt and wasn’t wearing glasses.

“I came into existence when you were born, Thomas. Back then you were nothing  _ but _ emotions and feelings.” The stick figure happily skipped around an empty mind space, little hearts trailing after him. “No higher brain functions, and there was no reason to really make decisions at first.”

“And then I appeared.”

Another stick figure popped into existence in front of the first one, but had a few key differences. For one, it was drawn in black marker, had its arms crossed, looked more anatomically correct, and the lines were much straighter than the blue figure, as if set by a ruler. The new character looked very stiff and didn’t show any emotion on its face.

The blue figure stared at the newest arrival before smiling again and wrapping the other up in a big hug.

“I developed in your mindscape when you started learning. If I do recall… that was when you first realized that by crying out, eventually whatever need your body required would eventually be met.”

“Yup!” The blue figure grabbed the black one by the hand and started dragging it along behind him, “It was just us two for a while! He was my playmate!” The Logan-figure watched on as the Patton-figure started piling blocks into a little tower.

“It was a bit annoying, actually. Having him follow me everywhere and demand we play games all the time.”

“Awww… you loved it.”

The picture zoomed out to show a large and rather accurate reconstruction of a school just behind the Logan-figure. It was built out of the same colored blocks that the Patton-figure was playing with.

“...From time to time.”

Suddenly a purple figure appeared off to the side, sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was a little more complexly-drawn than the other two stick figures. There was hair, clothes, and more detail in the face. From the looks of it, the only thing missing were hands, which were hidden in the Virgil-figure’s sweater paws. The other two looked over before Patton's smiled once again and skipped over, carrying a few blocks with him. Virgil only nodded along to whatever Patton was doing or saying, not really interacting. Logan stood by and watched.

“I appeared next, not long after you started learning. When I first showed up, I was your fear. Or, your reaction to fear. When you were young, every new painful or frightening experience was easily the worst thing you’ve ever had happen to you. I had a lot of work to do-”

“And then I appeared!”

The fourth figure, designed in red, practically exploded into existence between the other three, knocking Virgil flat on his back. By far the best drawn of the bunch. Hands, more details with the clothes, including a little cape and a crown, and hair that looked very much like Thomas’ when he was a toddler. Patton quickly waved at the new side, while the other two looked kinda miffed.

“I was the part of you that developed from a want to defend yourself against what you were afraid of!”

The scene shifted to one of Logan and Virgil crouching beside a crying Patton, who appeared to have scraped his knee. Roman was standing in front of the three of them, a fake foam sword in hand. Another shift to Logan with his head in his hands, something that looked suspiciously like homework in front of him on the desk. Roman crumbled the paper up and threw it away, looking proud while Logan stared in shock. A third shift of Virgil curled up in a ball on his bed, in the dark, shivering. Roman suddenly walked through the door with a glow-in-the-dark lightsaber and crawled into bed with the other, brandishing the light-up toy into the dark as if fighting it off. To the side, Virgil smiled before falling asleep.

“Oh, please. You were more annoying than that.”

A picture of a peaceful breakfast was suddenly interrupted by Roman running into the room, chasing after what looked like a pig with wings. A birthday banner suddenly was hung up in the living room with Patton blowing out about eight candles, and then a huge monsoon of puppies ran into the room, bowling everyone over while Roman, again, ran after them all. Logan shielding more homework from Roman’s wrath.

The board was wiped blank, “Alright, enough of that!  _ Ahem… _ I was also more your childlike wonder back then, not  _ exactly  _ creativity. I was the part of you who would stare out the window when it snowed or wanted to watch the sunset.”

Another side suddenly appeared, this time green. He looked to be a mix between Logan's and Virgil’s styles. Hands in his pockets, and a neutral expression as well. “I was the last one. Common sense is a learned thing and it took you some time to develop me. After all, I am, essentially, a thought process more than anything. A combination of all of your previous experiences to be used in making choices. I didn’t appear until you were in grade school, but even then I kept to myself. I was meant to observe your choices, not influence them.”

* * *

Thomas sat back, enthralled with the story he was being told. When the sides suddenly paused and looked out at him again, however, he quickly sat up, “Okay, so that’s how you all got your start. Cool! But, Roman, you said you were once my childlike wonder? And Virgil, you were my fear? Like in Inside Out? How did you all get from there… to here?”

"Excellent question, Thomas."

* * *

The black figure reappeared on the board, but looked older now. Perhaps a teenager, wearing a long sleeve button down shirt and Logan’s old tie making its first appearance, quickly shaded in blue by Patton’s marker. “Patton and I have remained, for lack of a better word, rather stagnant throughout your existence. Morality and Logic do not go through much change in a person.”

“The best way to put it is we ‘grew up’ with you, kiddo.” Patton’s figure appeared as well, quickly linking arms with Logan’s. He had his old cardigan, too, but it was tied around his waist rather than his shoulders. Logan’s black marker quickly added a pair of matching square glasses onto his counterpart.

To the right of the pair, Roman and Virgil’s characters appeared, “Yeah. The two of us, however…”

Roman’s figure drew a sword, a real one, and hoisted it into the air, “I started taking over more of your daydreams and idea making. I learned to conjure and create things in a way that was a lot faster than what you could do in the real world. And I think that was around the time I started constructing my kingdom.” Sure enough, the sash had appeared on the figure’s outfit, signifying that he was becoming 'Prince' Roman.

“As for me, well… I was still your fear of things up until middle school. I didn’t become Anxiety until you developed insecurity. And that’s also around the time I became an outcast from the others.”

Immediately the others began arguing the fact, even drawing their character’s around Virgil as a form of support, Roman quickly sweeping Virgil off his feet, hoisting him away from Patton who was again threatening to fight Virgil. But then Reason's character appeared again, breaking up the shouting.

“Hold on. While it certainly wasn’t right for you all to begin shunning Anxiety, I must admit it was understandable. Even I, as deep in the subconscious as I was at the time, felt a little nervous regarding him. If you didn’t take enough time to look at the big picture, it was easy to connect Anxiety to when Thomas was feeling bad or suffering and call him the bad guy. Considering  _ I _ didn’t have a physical form and was only able to obverse what was going on from a distance, I began noticing  _ all _ the things that Anxiety did for Thomas, rather than only acknowledging him when there was no choice in ignoring him.”

Patton and Logan’s figures looked a little ashamed, even if they were nodding, while Roman’s arms were crossed, “Don’t suppose you could’ve chosen a less harsh tone with that last statement, hmm, Captain Obvious?”

“Witty.”

“Virgil, I don’t like your friend.”

“Eh. You used to not like me, either.”

“But… you’re  _ different. _ ”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, wait-”

“Relax, I know what you meant.”

* * *

Thomas raised an eyebrow at the little smile his Creativity and Anxiety were sharing before clearing his throat, “Okay, so now I have the beginning and the middle of the story. How about what happened after that? It looks like your outfits still aren’t where they were when we first met. And you still have to explain how I created Vine characters that basically mirrored you.”

"Hmm... well, I suppose that mostly has to do with me."

* * *

Roman’s character reappeared on the board. He appeared to be the age that Thomas was when he first started acting,  “Once you started pursuing more creative outlets and what not, I had finished constructing much of my kingdom. There were a number of Vine ideas and one-liners I recycled from my own subjects, not to mention your Disney pranks. It wasn’t until I saw Patton playing ‘The Ground is Lava’ in the commons one day that I got the idea to introduce us as characters. Patton, as the oldest, had always been an older-brother-slash-father-figure to Virgil and I, so I gave you the idea of a ‘Dad character’ who was more childish than his own children.”

Patton’s figure reappeared on the board, his old cardigan now wrapped around his shoulders, “Once you gave me an outfit in the ‘real world’ as it was, that’s the form I started taking all the time in your mind.”

“Same went for me.” Logan appeared next to Patton, his shirt changed from long to short sleeve. “I was always fascinated by knowledge and desired to learn more, so when you stopped following your career in chemical engineering I assume Roman felt bad and decided to make me a teacher in your vines.”

“Yeah, my kiddos  _ loved _ your classes.”

“They weren’t even your real kids, Patton.”

“True… but perhaps one day I might. Wouldn’t it be so cute, having little kids running around the mindscape?”

A little boy and girl, also wearing glasses, were drawn beside the two eldest sides in blue marker. The girl quickly wrapped herself around Patton’s leg, while the boy smiled up at Logan and grabbed his hand. The Logan figure blushed, but smiled.

“They are cute-”

“Of course, I  _ had _ to add myself! How could I not? I had to give you a chance to be a prince in real life! People were already calling for you to be the next Disney Prince, and who are we to deny your followers?!”

“Meanwhile, you couldn’t be bothered to include me.”

Roman’s figure bit his lower lip before gathering Virgil in his arms, “And I apologize for that. It was unfair of me. But please remember that I didn’t even throw you in as a villain. I still remembered how we got along when we were younger, and I couldn’t do that to my old friend, no matter how much I disagreed with you at the time.”

“Pfft. Whatever…” But the Virgil figure didn’t make a move to escape Roman’s arms, seemingly resigned to his fate.

* * *

“Okay, that’s it.”

Before the others realized what was happening, Thomas snapped his fingers and pulled them out of the mindscape.

* * *

They reappeared at their usual places in Thomas’ living room, some looking a little disoriented. Patton, once again, fell backwards against the window blinds.

Thomas crossed his arms, “ _ What _ is going on here?” The five sides exchanged glances, none of them understanding. “Well?”

“Is… something wrong, kiddo?”

“W-well, I don’t… I don’t think the word  _ wrong _ is the word I’m looking for, but that’s the point! I mean, when I first introduced you in the earlier videos the four of you could hardly stand each other! You got better after a while even though it wasn’t perfect, then Reason- I mean, Chris showed up and talked circles around you, and now you’re… you’re…”

“Comfortable with each other?”

“Teasing?”

“Displaying high levels of sentiment and/or attraction, depending on who we are speaking to or about?”

“Flirting? Cuz… yeah, we’re flirting. Or, Dad and Logan are flirting, and Roman is flirting with me-”

“Don’t you go acting like you weren’t reciprocating…”

“Shut up.”

Thomas couldn’t do more than blink, looking around at his sides who were  _ blushing, _ “Am I… missing something here?”

To his right, Logan shook his head with a small smile before announcing, “Patton and I are dating, Thomas. As are Virgil and Roman.”

The room went quiet, save for a couple giggles from Patton’s corner. Thomas blinked again, not sure how to respond to something like that. A quick glance told him the others were waiting for one, though. Virgil seemed a little more nervous than usual, tucking himself into his jacket, but everyone else seemed more than content to wait for him to gather his thoughts.

“Oh. So…” Thomas pursed his lips, thinking it over for another couple seconds, “I suppose that explains… a bit. Like how I’ve been feeling a little more put together than usual.”

Roman snorted, a hand coming up to hide his smile while Virgil reached over and swatted at his arm. Logan experienced a sudden coughing fit, his cheeks cherry-red. Chris rolled his eyes, but seemed amused. And Patton just kept on smiling.

Thomas’ cheeks were aflame, “Uh… I didn’t mean to phrase it like that.”

“Like what, kiddo?”

“Nothing! So…” He rubbed at the back of his head, “A little self-love, right?”

Chris nodded, a pleased smile on his face. Thomas couldn’t help but wonder if that had been the newest side’s whole reason for introducing himself. Deciding to let that question wait for another day, he just waved goodbye as his sides came up with reasons to sink out again, ending the video with red faces and a couple giggles.

Letting out a big breath, Thomas returned his attention to the camera. Man… he’d have to put a  _ lot _ of editing into this one.

“Well, I hope you enjoyed that little insight on how I came to… be? I suppose? And maybe I’ve sparked a few questions for you on how your own personality developed into the person you are today! Until next time, take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals! Peace out!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta admit, I’m a little proud of myself for this last chapter! And as much as I dislike my characterizations in the first chapter… it lead me here, at least! And I’m glad I finally finished this story. I’ve never had a hiatus this long before. Oh, well.  
> If you liked it, please leave a comment and a kudos! But be warned I am not writing any more chapters for this story! Sorry, but there’s only so much I can handle… and eight stories at once has been a bit too much stress for me. So I have to call it a day on this one. But there are still two more chapters to go in the prequel story, if you like my writings!  
> Also, a little shameless self-advertising: If any of you are fans of Ouran High School Host Club, my other stories on Wattpad, AO3, and Fanfiction.net that aren't Thomas Sanders based are for OHSHC. If you like my writing and want more, you're free to check those other stories out!  
> See you next story!

**Author's Note:**

> Ah… okay. I think this went about okay. Originally I was going to add in more Prinxiety, but I feel like mixing in a romance after what happened in the beginning would've been a bad idea.  
> Um, let me know what you think. I love hearing feedback from my readers.  
> See you next time!


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